Enjoy browsing through this photo gallery of the Resist! & Revitalize Our Communities Summit focused on Problem-Solving Monsanto, GMOs, & Pesticides in Our Food and Environment on November 4, 2017, at the Tucson Osteopathic Medical Foundation Conference Center! For a larger image, click on the photo you’d like to see.

I was honored to give the introduction to the summit and to introduce each speaker and panelist. I’m pictured in photos #1, #3, #6, #14, and #15.

Many thanks to: Carey Gillam and Alexis Baden-Mayer for traveling to Tucson to participate in the Summit; to farmer Anne Loftfield of High Energy Agriculture, Jason Isenberg of REALM Environments, and Rick Frey, co-founder of ARBICO Organics for participating in the local panel discussion; to the core group members of Toxin-Free Pima County who planned and worked the event; to the sponsors and supporters of the Summit (see photo #18); and to everyone who attended!

Tucson, Arizona: October 17, 2017 – Agrichemical corporation Monsanto hasn’t been in Tucson headlines much since it dropped its bid for a tax incentive with the Pima County Board of Supervisors in February. But the company and its flagship weed killer Roundup have been under fire both nationally and internationally this year and will be in the spotlight again at an educational summit at the Conference Center at the Tucson Osteopathic Medicine Foundation, 3182 North Swan Road, in Tucson from 9 am to 3:30 pm on Saturday, November 4.

Organized by a group of concerned citizens known as Toxin-Free Pima County, the Resist! & Revitalize Our Communities Summit will reveal uncovered secrets about Monsanto’s tactics that propelled Roundup weed killer to be so widely used, along with actions that citizens can take to protect themselves against pesticides and genetically modified foods that Monsanto and other biotech corporations produce.

Ask the Nutritionist

Q: This is embarrassing, but I never really paid attention to whether food was organic or not, and why I should care. I also have no idea what the difference between organic and non-GMO food is. Can you fill me in on the basics? —Nancy B., Cincinnati

A: First of all, don’t be embarrassed. It’s not always easy to get the facts on these important topics, in large part because for more than two decades, information about dramatic changes in how our food is produced has been suppressed, and people have only been discovering the truth in bits and pieces.

“So many truths [about our food] have been whitewashed,” says Carey Gillam, a writer for US Right to Know and the author of the new book Whitewash. “By pouring more and more pesticides on crops, we’re getting less healthy soil, less healthy food, and potentially a range of carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in our breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

October is “Non-GMO Month,” dubbed that term in 2010 by the Non-GMO Project to increase awareness of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food and of how to shop non-GMO. And, boy, has awareness increased since that time! Today it’s common to turn on mainstream television and see ads by mainstream companies proudly announcing that their products – from Triscuits to Cheerios – are non-GMO. We are well into the tipping point of consumer rejection against GMOs in the United States!

Yet, while awareness about GM foods has dramatically increased, understanding of the widespread use of herbicides, particularly the use of glyphosate, found in Roundup weed killer, which goes hand in hand with GMOs isn’t nearly as far along. To kick off Non-GMO Month, Natural Grocers and Going Against GMOs author Melissa Diane Smith are teaming up to hold a special event about the hot-button issue of GMOs and pesticides from 11:30 am to 1 pm on Saturday, October 7, at Natural Grocers, 6320 N. Oracle Road. The event will feature an informative presentation by Smith followed by the first showing in Tucson of “Communities Rising,” a 48-minute film that focuses on the glyphosate problem and solutions to the problem that are taking place across the country. View a trailer for “Communities Rising” here.

Going Against GMOs author and holistic nutritionist Melissa Diane Smith and Natural Grocers Nutritional Health Coach Kariman Pierce are teaming up to present the GMO Trilogy Movie Series this summer at Natural Grocers, 5600 E. River Road, in Tucson. The series of short films will run from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. every other Saturday starting on July 29, 2017.

Each movie will include a post-film Q&A, information on local action taking place, and tips on how you can avoid Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in food. 100% Organic, Non-GMO snacks will be served, and copies of Going Against GMOs will be available for purchase.

Beat the heat and educate yourself about the pressing health and environmental issues connected to GMOs in our food supply. The movies in the documentary series are:

The spring film, education, and action series I’ve been doing in Tucson and Pima County for the last month with GMO Free Arizona and Toxin-Free Pima County Coalition culminates this week! During May 18-20, you can:

Tune into a half-hour radio program to learn more about GMOs, pesticides, and Monsanto, and local action taking place on these issues;

Attend a non-GMO dinner with farm-to-table selections; and

Watch a highly rated movie about the miraculous action of seeds that we use to grow food, the threat that Monsanto and other biotech companies pose to them, and what we can do to protect them.

The Future of Food series of movies will be shown in three different Pima County Public Libraries at 2 p.m. on consecutive Saturdays from May 6 to May 20, 2017. The free film and education series is presented in partnership by the Pima County Public Library, the Pima County Library Seed Library, Food Conspiracy Co-op, Toxin-Free Pima County Coalition, and GMO Free Arizona. Each movie will include a post-film discussion.

The first movie in the series is The Future of Food, which will be shown this Saturday, May 6, at the Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library in Marana. A post-film discussion will take place with Going Against GMOs author Melissa Diane Smith, farmer Anne Loftfield of High Energy Agriculture, and Nurse Janay Young.